Exposed

Siege dad in trouble for assault on teenager

HE was once jailed after holding his daughter captive – but 15 years on he’s back in trouble with the law, this time for protecting her honour.

Mark Pearson was locked up for eight years in 1996 after he sparked a two-hour armed siege, which left a police officer fighting for his life.

Armed with a commando knife, Pearson, then 21, stabbed PC Peter Walsh in the thigh, severing a main vein, then returned to his house and kept his partner and three-year-old daughter captive while armed police surrounded his property.

The horrifying ordeal only ended after police negotiators and his mother pleaded with him to give himself up.

But after pledging to turn his life around while in prison, Pearson has been hauled before the court once again – this time for assaulting a teenager who bad-mouthed his daughter, now 18, to his face.

The court heard Tina’s 18-year-old ex Robert Cummings told Pearson he would spread lies about his daughter around the village where they live. Pearson, 36, then pushed Mr Cummings to the ground and punched him in the face.

Speaking from his home in Pelton, County Durham, Pearson said: “Obviously, the biggest regret of my life was that incident where Tina was involved as a child.

“As her dad, I see it as my job to protect her, and that’s what I did when this kid insulted her like he did.”

Pearson, who lives with his partner and five children in The Avenue, admitted assault before Consett magistrates yesterday.

He also admitted possessing three air rifles which were found by police when they raided his home following the attack.